During the process of manufacturing an electric circuit or before placing the circuit in operation, the circuit usually is tested. Typically, the circuit is mounted in a custom fabricated test fixture with each different type circuit to be tested requiring its own custom fixture. Given the immense variety of electrical circuits, fixture fabrication is time consuming and expensive.
Some adjustable test fixtures have been made but their use is limited to a few variations in type or size. These fixtures have been rejected for reasons such as lack of adaptability to existing apparatus, inconsistency of electrical and physical mating to circuits, restrictions regarding size constraints and inability to characterize the fixture for de-embedding purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,865 is specifically intended for use as test fixture for testing microwave devices provided with circuit configurations. However, it can be used with only one type of electrical connector and can test no more than two connectors of that type during a single test. This fixture is adjustable in the x and y directions (discussed below).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,254 is a circuit board test fixture used to test each individual circuit element using a probe or test lead. It cannot be used with the electrical connectors of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,636 is a apparatus for testing monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MIMICs). It is designed to be used in conjunction with a fixed dimension chip carrier.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,919 is a device for characterizing microwave components and can be used with a variety of components such as a chip, a package or a hybrid circuit. It is adjustable for contact alignment in the y direction and for circuit dimension in the x direction. It is limited to use with coaxial connectors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,010 is an abutment or support piece intended for use in the T slot of a machine table
U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,644 is an adjustable holder for testing microstrip substrates. The holder can be adjusted to accommodate substrates of various sizes and circuit configurations. However, the fixture is only adjustable in the x direction for substrate size and in the y direction for circuit configuration.